Gymnastics center opens at Sanford Sports Complex

Power & Grace Gymnastics has opened its new building at the Sanford Sports Complex, adding space for its growing program.

The business is owned by Dennis and Kathy Champoux. It started in 1999 and mostly operated from a 12,000-square-foot building near Russell Street and Interstate 29.

The new space isn’t far away and is 16,000 square feet with adjacent land ready to go if the couple wants to expand.

“It really came out exactly how we wanted,” Dennis Champoux said. “Everything is spread out but close enough that you can watch everything.”

New additions include two in-ground trampolines, a third vaulting station, additional bar stations and a channel bar that allows coaches to work with athletes on bars from the ground. There also are multiple loose foam pits and three “resi-pits” that allow athletes to work on skills with a soft landing.

The sport has enjoyed a surge in popularity in recent years, they said, crediting the success of several women’s Olympic teams.

“Gymnastics is still growing and it’s at all levels. You’re seeing interest in preschool and rec and the competitive levels,” Dennis Champoux said. “The high school programs are booming right now. They have some of the highest numbers they’ve had. Harrisburg just added a team, which shows the interest is there.”

Upstairs at Power & Grace, the owners have expanded their children’s area. It’s adjacent to a viewing space where parents can look down onto the larger gym and includes a rock climbing wall, small trampoline and monkey bar-like equipment.

“The preschool-market parents are recognizing the value of having their kids in good developmental programs, and gymnastics has been proven to be one of the best for that,” Kathy Champoux said. “We’ve worked hard to have a nice space and do more with our preschool programs.”

There are between 500 and 600 participants currently at Power & Grace, and the new building has space to comfortably add a few hundred more, they said.

Gymnastics start as young as 2 there, but after that “the sky is the limit. A few years back, once you got through college you were done, and now anyone at any age can continue competing in the sport,” Dennis Champoux said.

Power & Grace also added a party room that can double as a judges’ room during competitions.

There are open gym times when anyone can use the facility on Wednesday afternoons and Friday evenings.